וְאַתֶּם תִּהְיוּ לִי מַמְלֶכֶת כֹּהֲנִים. . .
And you will be for me a Nation of Kohanim. . . (19:6)
How can Hashem call the Jewish People “a kingdom of Kohanim” when we are made up of all different tribes, not just Kohanim?[1]
The Seforno answers that this phrase is not a description of the Jewish People; rather, it is the mission of the Jewish People! For, just as the Kohanim were the teachers of the Nation, so too, we all have to be teachers to the entire world — a kingdom of teachers!
This sounds like quite a daunting task, and it is indeed our mission as an individual and a nation to teach the entire world about Hashem; however, if we bear in mind the famous words of Rav Yisrael Salanter we may find the task more approachable. Rav Yisrael said:
When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world. But I found it was too difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my People. But when I found I couldn’t change my People, I began to focus on my town. But I couldn’t even change my town, so I tried to change my family, but wasn’t successful. Then I realized that the only thing I can change is myself. But now that I have changed myself, I realize that I can then make an impact on my family. My family can then make an impact on our town. The town’s impact will then change the entire People, and this will lead to changing the world.
